Fermented Beans

Directions

1. Cook the beans until the skins have split and they are quite tender, but not mush. If the skins didn't split during cooking, gently break them open with your hands or a fork without mashing them — the probiotics need access to the inner starch to ferment successfully.
2. Wash a quart jar and a glass fermenting weight in hot, soapy water. Sterilization isn't required.
3. Let the beans cool to room temperature, then fill the jar with them. While holding the jar with one hand, bump its bottom with the other to settle the beans until there is about 3 inches of headspace.
4. Set the glass fermenting weight on top of the beans in the jar.
5. In a pourable measuring cup, stir the salt into the liquid starter culture until dissolved, then add the water.
6. Pour the liquid starter culture into the jar until the beans and the fermenting weight are fully submerged.
7. Set a lid loosely on the jar (loose enough for fermentation gases to escape) and leave on the counter at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, for 4 to 5 days.
8. Starting on day 4, taste the beans. If you'd like more tang, or the pH hasn't dropped below 4.5 yet, leave it another day on the counter before refrigerating.
9. If kahm yeast has formed on the surface, don't worry — it's harmless. Remove the fermenting weight (which will pull out most of it), then dab off any remaining flakes with a paper towel and wipe the inside of the jar.
10. Remove and set aside the fermenting weight — don't return it to the jar. Seal the jar with a tight lid and refrigerate. Properly fermented beans keep about 2 months in the fridge.